Crushing blows are not nearly the factor now than they were in vanilla WoW and Burning Crusade. The big change in WoW 3.0 is that only mobs that are 4 levels higher than you can perform crushing blows*. Most raid tanks will never see one happen now as the tank will be level 80 and the world bosses are level 83. Here's the scoop on crushing blows anyway for completeness:
- Crushing blows hit for 150% damage
- Players never land crushing blows
- Only white damage (autoattacks) can be crushing blows. Spells and specials like Mortal Strike or Mighty Smash cannot be crushing blows
- Your chance to take a crushing blow is always checked against your level maximum of (5 x level) (from here: WoW-Europe.com Forums -> 20/04/05 Agility, Strength, Defense and AP)
- If your defense skill is at your level maximum, then mobs 4 or more levels above your level can land crushing blows with a basic 15% chance to do so.
- For every point of defense skill (not defense rating!) you are under 5 times your level, the chance of a crushing blow increases by 2%. (This has the side effect of having crushing blows landing even from same-level mobs if your defense score is much lower than your level maximum.)
- Defense from gear ONLY affects your chance to receive crushing blows if your defense skill is lower than 5 times your level (but it always gives all the benefits of increased dodge, parry, block, as well as reduction in chance to be critically hit)
- Defense skill added by gear does not affect your chance to receive crushing blows past 5 x level - you have the same chance to receive a crushing blow at 600 defense as you do at 400 defense (unless, of course, you have enough total avoidance to push crushing blows off the combat table.)
Some examples:
- A level 80 with 400 defense and no gear with defense rating on it has a 15% chance of getting a crushing blow from a level 84 mob
- A level 80 with 350 defense and gear with 200 defense rating on it has a 15% chance of getting a crushing blow from a level 84 mob
- A level 74 with 325 defense and no gear with defense rating on it has a 15% chance of getting a crushing blow from a level 78 mob
- A level 70 with 299 defense and no gear with defense rating on it has a 17% chance of getting a crushing blow from a level 64 mob
* As in past, it is surmised that "+4 levels" actually means "20 weapon skill higher than your level maximum defense skill". Since the adds in Thorim's arena crush level 80 players with Unbalancing Strike, this theory seems to be supported still. It also appears that Thorim himself has had crushing blows totally disabled.
Crushing Blows
